If you are pregnant

 Vitamins for dummies: part-5

Keep in mind that geating for twoh means that youfre the sole source of nutrients for the growing fetus, not that you need to double the amount of food you eat. If you donft get the vitamins you need, neither will your baby. The RDAs for many nutrients are the same as those for women who arenft pregnant. But when youfre pregnant, you need extra . Vitamin D: Every smidgen of vitamin D in a newbornfs body comes from his or her mom. If the mother doesnft have enough D, neither will the baby. Are vitamin pills the answer? Yes. And no. The qualifier is how many pills, because although too little vitamin D can weaken a developing fetus, too much can cause birth defects. Thatfs why until new recommendations for vitamin D are issued, the second important d-word is gdoctor.h As in, check with yours to see whatfs right for you. . Vitamin E: To create all that new tissue (the womanfs as well as the babyfs), a pregnant woman needs an extra 2 a-TE each day, the approximate

Amount in one egg.

1. Vitamin C: The level of vitamin C in your blood falls as your vitamin C flows across the placenta to your baby, who may . at some point in the pregnancy . have vitamin C levels as much as 50 percent higher than yours. So you need an extra 10 milligrams vitamin C each day (1.2 cup cooked zucchini or 2 stalks of asparagus). 2. Riboflavin (vitamin B2): To protect the baby against structural defects such as cleft palate or a deformed heart, a pregnant woman needs an extra 0.3 milligrams riboflavin each day (slightly less than 1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal). 3. Folate: Folate protects the child against cleft palate and neural tube (spinal cord) defects such as spina bifida. As many as 2 of every 1,000 babies born each year in the United States have a neural tube defect such as spina bifida because their mothers didnft get enough folate to meet the RDA standard. Taking 400 micrograms folate daily before becoming pregnant and through the first two months of pregnancy significantly lowers the risk of giving birth to a child with cleft palate. Taking 400 micrograms folate each day through an entire pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. 4. Vitamin B12: To meet the demands of the growing fetus, a pregnant woman needs an extra 0.2 micrograms vitamin B12 each day (just 3 ounces of roasted chicken).

Read more ...

the specific vitamin requirements of older women

 Vitamins for dummies: part-4

As many as 2 of every 1,000 babies born each year in the United States have a neural tube defect such as spina bifida because their mothers didnft get enough folate to meet the RDA standard. Taking 400 micrograms folate daily before becoming pregnant and through the first two months of pregnancy significantly lowers the risk of giving birth to a child with cleft that is, the ones you transfer to your child in your milk. Ifm approaching menopause Information about the specific vitamin requirements of older women is as hard to find as, well, information about the specific vitamin requirements about older men. Itfs enough to make you wonder whatfs going on with the people who set the RDAs. Donft they know that everyone gets older? Right now, just about all anybody can say for sure about the nutritional needs of older women is that they require extra calcium to stem the natural loss of bone that occurs when women reach menopause and their production of the female hormone estrogen declines. They may also need extra vitamin D to enable their bodies to absorb and use the calcium.

You need extra vitamin A, vitamin E, thiamin, riboflavin, and folate to produce sufficient quantities of nutritious breast milk, about 25 ounces/750 ml each day. You need extra vitamin D, vitamin C, and niacin as insurance to replace the vitamins you lose . that is, the ones you transfer to your child in your milk. Ifm approaching menopause Information about the specific vitamin requirements of older women is as hard to find as, well, information about the specific vitamin requirements about older men. Itfs enough to make you wonder whatfs going on with the people who set the RDAs. Donft they know that everyone gets older? Right now, just about all anybody can say for sure about the nutritional needs of older women is that they require extra calcium to stem the natural loss of bone that occurs when women reach menopause and their production of the female hormone estrogen declines. They may also need extra vitamin D to enable their bodies to absorb and use the calcium. Gender Bias Alert! No similar studies are available for older men. But adding vitamin D supplements to calcium supplements increases bone density in older people. The current RDA for vitamin D is set at 5 micrograms/200 IU for all adults, but the new AI (Adequate Intake) for vitamin D is 10 micrograms/400 IU for people ages 51 to 70 and 15 micrograms/600 IU or more for people 71 and older. Some researchers suggest that even these amounts may be too low to guarantee maximum calcium absorption. Check with your doctor before adding vitamin D supplements. In very large amounts, this vitamin can be toxic. I have very light skin or very dark skin Sunlight . yes, plain old sunlight . transforms fats just under the surface of your skin to vitamin D. So getting what you need should be a cinch, right? Not necessarily. Getting enough vitamin D from sunlight is hard to do when you have very light skin and avoid the sun for fear of skin cancer. Even more difficult is getting enough vitamin D when you have very dark skin, which acts as a kind of natural sun block. Read More...

Read more ...

The level of vitamin C

  Vitamins for dummies: part-3

Some experts say the damage is likely to be temporary; others say that it may be permanent Choline Very high doses (14 to 37 times the adequate amount) have been linked to vomiting, salivation, sweating, low blood pressure, and healthy people from deficiencies, but sometimes the circumstances of your life (or your lifestyle) mean that you need something extra medication? Do you smoke? Are you on a restricted diet? Are you pregnant? Are you a nursing mother? Are you approaching menopause? Answer yes to any of these questions, and you may be a person who needs larger amounts decrease the effectiveness of vitamins; some vitamins increase or decrease For example, a woman whofs using birth control pills may absorb less than the customary amount of the B vitamins about vitamin and drug interactions, see Chapter 25 you probably have abnormally low blood levels of vitamin C More trouble: hemicals from tobacco smoke create more free radicals in Even the National Research Council, which is tough on vitamin overdosing, says that regular smokers need to take about 66 percent more On the other hand, if youfre nuts for veggies but follow a vegan diet that shuns all foods from nimals (including milk, cheese, eggs, and fish you simply cannot get enough vitamin D without taking supplements Vegans also benefit from extra vitamin C because it increases their abilitya are a must to supply the nutrient found only in fish, poultry, milk, Keep in mind that geating for twoh means that youfre the sole source of nutrients for the growing fetus, not that you need to double the amount of food you eat. If you donft get the vitamins you need, neither will your baby. The RDAs for many nutrients are the same as those for women who arenft pregnant. But when youfre pregnant, you need extra. Vitamin D: Every smidgen of vitamin D in a newbornfs body comes from his or her mom. If the mother doesnft have enough D, neither will the baby. The qualifier is how many pills, because although too little vitamin D can weaken a developing fetus, too much can cause birth defects. Thatfs why until new recommendations for vitamin D are issued, the second important d-word is gdoctor. h As in, check with yours to see whatfs right for you. Vitamin E: To create all that new tissue (the womanfs as well as the babyfs), a pregnant woman needs an extra 2 a-TE each day, the approximate

Vitamin C:The level of vitamin C in your blood falls as your vitamin C flows across the placenta to your baby, who may. have vitamin C levels as much as 50 percent higher than yours. So you need an extra 10 milligrams vitamin C each day (1. 2 cup cooked zucchini or 2 stalks of asparagus). Riboflavin (vitamin B2): To protect the baby against structural defects such as cleft palate or a deformed heart, a pregnant woman needs an extra 0. 3 milligrams riboflavin each day (slightly less than 1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal). Read More...

Read more ...

Vitamin May Produce the Signs of Deficiency

 Vitamins for dummies: part-2

A Diet Low in This Vitamin May Produce These Signs of Deficiency Vitamin A Poor night vision; dry, rough, or cracked skin; dry mucous membranes including the inside of the eye; slow wound healing; nerve damage; reduced ability to taste, hear, and smell; inability to perspire; reduced resistance to respiratory infections Vitamin D In children: rickets (weak muscles, delayed tooth development, and soft bones, all caused by the inability to absorb minerals without vitamin D) In adults: osteomalacia (soft, porous bones that fracture

easily); fatigue Vitamin E Inability to absorb fat Vitamin K Blood fails to clot Vitamin C Scurvy (bleeding gums; tooth loss; nosebleeds; bruising; painful or swollen joints; shortness of breath; increased susceptibility to infection; slow wound healing; muscle pains; skin rashes) Thiamin (vitamin B1) Poor appetite; unintended weight loss; upset stomach; gastric upset (nausea, vomiting); mental depression; an inability to concentrate; fatigue Riboflavin (vitamin B2) Inflamed mucous membranes, including cracked lips, sore tongue and mouth, burning eyes; skin rashes; anemia; fatigue

A Diet Low in This Vitamin May Produce These Signs of Deficiency Niacin Pellagra (diarrhea; inflamed skin and mucous membranes; mental confusion and/or dementia); fatigue A Diet Low in This Vitamin May Produce These Signs of Deficiency Vitamin B6 Anemia; convulsions similar to epileptic seizures; skin rashes; upset stomach; nerve damage (in infants); fatigue Folate Anemia (immature red blood cells); fatigue Vitamin B12 Pernicious anemia (destruction of red blood cells, nerve damage, increased risk of stomach cancer attributed to damaged stomach tissue, neurological/psychiatric symptoms attributed to nerve cell damage); fatigue Biotin Loss of appetite; upset stomach; pale, dry, scaly skin; hair loss; emotional depression; skin rashes (in infants younger than 6 months) Big trouble: Vitamin megadoses Can you get too much of a good thing? Yes when taken in the very large amounts popularly known as megadoses a megadose is several times the RDA, but the term is so vague that it isnft even in the 28th edition of Stedmanfs Medical Dictionary (2006), a tome thatfs pretty much the gold standard in medical word books Megadoses of vitamin A (as retinol) may cause symptoms that make you of vitamin A may damage the fetus Megadoses of vitamin D may cause kidney stones and hard lumps of calcium in soft tissue (muscles and organs), as well as nausea and other Megadoses of niacin (sometimes used to lower cholesterol levels) can Megadoses of vitamin B6 can cause (temporary) damage to nerves in The interesting fact is that with one exception, the likeliest way to get a megadose of vitamins is to take supplements (see Chapter 6 for more on supplements) since it itfs pretty much impossible for you to cram down enough food to overdose on vitamins D, E, K, C, and all the Bs 144 Part II: What You Get from Food Liver and fish liver oils are concentrated sources of preformed vitamin A (retinol), the potentially toxic form of vitamin A contains so much retinol that early 20th century explorers to the South Pole made themselves sick on seal and whale liver vitamin A toxicity, this time from supplements. Table 11-3 Amounts and Effects of Vitamin Vitamin A 15,000 to 25,000 IU retinol a day for adults (2,000 IU or more for children) may lead to liver damage, headache, vomiting, abnormal vision, constipation, hair loss, loss of appetite, low-grade fever,her risk of giving birth to a child with birth defects Vitamin D 2,000 IU a day can cause irreversible damage to kidneys and heart Smaller doses may cause muscle weakness, headache, nausea, Vitamin E Large amounts (more than 400 to 800 IU a day) may cause upset Similarly, in 2005 a meta-analysis (a study comparing the results of several studies) in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that use of ghigh doseh (400 IU or more) vitamin E supplements might gincrease all causes of mortality [death] and Vitamin C 1,000 mg or higher may cause upset stomach, diarrhea, or constipation Niacin Doses higher than the RDA raise the production of liver enzymes and blood levels of sugar and uric acid, leading to liver damage and an increased risk of diabetes and gout Vitamin B6 Continued use of 50 mg or more a day may damage nerves in arms. Read More...

Read more ...

Flooding your body with liquid dilutes

 Mighty Minerals & Food : part-6

Youfre dizzy and weak, and perspiration, now uncontrolled, no longer cools youbody temperature begins rising, and without relief cool shower, plus water, ginger ale, or fruit juice heat cramps to heat exhaustion to heat stroke But drinking too much water while exercising can also be hazardous to your Flooding your body with liquid dilutes the sodium in your bloodstream This may cause body tissues, including your brain, to swell, a conditio.
American College of Sports Medicine is to drink just enough water to maintain How much is that? Step on a scale such as the World Health Organizationfs handydandy, If youfre reading this while lying in bed exhausted by some variety of turista, the travelerfs Take a sip from one glass, then the other, and ounces of water to replace every pound lost in your one hourfs exercise You need extra water to eliminate the nitrogen compounds in protein is true of infants on high-protein formulas and adults on high-protein weightreducing See Chapter 7 to find out why too much protein may be so harmful

Youfre taking certain medications Because some medications interact with water and electrolytes, always ask whether you need extra water and electrolytes whenever your doctor prescribes Diuretics: These drugs increase the loss of sodium, potassium, and chloride Neomycin (an antibiotic): This medicine binds sodium into insoluble compounds, making it less available to your body Colchicine (an antigout drug): This medicine lowers your bodyfs absorption of sodium
When the Body Doesnft Get Enough Water Every day, each of us loses an amount of water equal to about 4 percent of our total weight. If we donft take in enough water to replace it, warning signals go off loud and clear Early on, when youfve lost just a little water, equal to about 1 percent of your If you ignore thirst, it grows more intense Your circulation slows as water seeps out of blood cells and blood plasma

And you experience a sense of emotional discomfort, a perception that things for a 130-pound woman; 7 pounds for a 170-pound man), youfre slightly nauseated, your skin is flushed, and youfre very, very tired circulating through your tissues, your hands and feet tingle, your head aches, your temperature rises, you breathe more quickly, and your pulse quickens After this, things go downhill more quickly percent of your body weight, your tongue swells, your kidneys start to fail, and youfre so dizzy that you canft stand on one foot with your eyes closed fact, you probably canft even try: Your muscles are in spasm When you lose enough water to equal 15 percent of your body weight, youfre deaf and pretty much unable to see out of eyes that are sunken and covered Your skin has shrunk, and your tongue has shriveled When youfve lost water equal to 20 percent of your body weight, your body is at the limit of its endurance Deprived of life-giving liquid, your skin cracks, and your organs grind to a Great Britain, Australia, or any place where English is the mother tongue:two molecules oxygen) is a queer duck, teachers explain each year to first-year chemistry For starters, water may be hard or soft, but these terms have nothing to do with how the Hard water has lots of minerals, particularly springs, picking up calcium carbonate as it soft water is surface water, the runoff from products that attract and remove the minerals.

What you get at the supermarket is another list Distilled water is tap water that has been distilled, or boiled until it turns to steam, which is then collected and condensed back into a liquid free of impurities, chemicals, to describe a liquid produced by ultrafiltration, cubes and serves as a flavor-free mixer steam iron, and itfs valuable for chemical Spring water is water from springs relatively
has fewer mineral particles and what some people describe as a gcleaner tasteh than Mineral water is water from deeper down; it picks up minerals on its journey upwards which makes it a natural antacid and a mild Still water is spring water that flows up to pushed to the top by naturally occurring Springlike or spring fresh are terms designed to make the water in the bottle seem more
terms arenft spring water; theyfre most likely to be filtered tap water, the liquid that flows
out when you turn on the faucet (see distilled Want to know how to put foods together to build a
healthful diet? Step right up to this part whose chapters are chock-full of guidelines from the Dietary Plus, you can read an explanation of why you get hungry and why you find some foods more appetizing an important factor in creating a nutritious (Hey, if it doesnft taste good, why would you want to Explaining how health and lifestyle affect appetite Because you need food to live, your body is no slouch at letting you know that itfs ready for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and maybe a few This chapter explains the signals your body uses to get you to the table, to the drive-through of your favorite fast-food joint, or to the The first is hunger; the second is appetite.

A physical reaction that includes chemical changes in your body related to a naturally low level of glucose in your blood several hours after eating An instinctive, protective mechanism that makes sure that your body gets the fuel it requires to function reasonably well smells good!) that
stimulates an involuntary physiological response The practical difference between hunger and appetite is this: When youfre After that, your appetite may lead you to eat two more hot dogs just because they look appealing or taste good In other words, appetite is the basis for the familiar saying: gYour eyes h Not to mention the well-known advertising slogan: gBet you canft eat just one. h Hey, these guys know their customers Your body does its best to create cycles of activity that parallel a 24-hour Like sleep, hunger occurs at pretty regular intervals, although your lifestyle may make it difficult to follow this natural pattern Russian physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in physiology/medicine in 1904 for his research on a fancy way of saying that you can train people to respond physically (or emotionally) to an object or stimulus that simply reminds them of something that they love or hate He began by ringing a bell each time he offered food to his laboratory dogs so that the dogs learned to associate the sound of the bell.

Then he rang the bell without offering the food, and the dogs responded as though food were For example, it can make a winning Olympic athlete teary at the sight of the to encourage you to buy their products: When you see a picture of a deep, dark, rich chocolate bar, doesnft your mouth start to water, and The clearest signals that your body wants food, right now, are the physical reactions from your stomach that let you know itfs definitely time to put If you do not fill it right away, it will issue an and their continual waves down the entire length of the intestine move food through your digestive tract.

Read more ...

Check out High Blood Pressure For Dummies

 Mighty Minerals & Food : part-5

At least they thought they knew kidney specialist Heinz Valtin turned off the tap with one simple question: gWho says that all the water you need has to come from water?h Valtinfs report in the American Journal of Physiology (2003) notes that some of the water you require is right there in your food Lettuce, for example, is 90 percent water get water from foods that youfd never think of as water sources: hamburger (more than 50 percent), cheese (the softer the cheese, the higher the water How does water know where to go? Osmosis is the principle that governs how water that lets only certain substances pass through) such as the one surrounding a body cell How does the water know which side is more dense? Now that onefs easy: Wherever the is inside the cell, more water flows in to dilute When more sodium is in the fluid outside the cell, water flows out of the cell to dilute the gWater, water everywhere, and not a drop to of your cells to dilute the salty solution in your the cells in your cheeks and tongue, which feel Swiss cheese is 38 percent water; skim milk ricotta, 74 percent), a plain, hard bagel (29 percent water), milk powder (2 percent), and even
In 2008, the National Institutes of Health agreed, issuing new recommendations 7 liters) of water a day from all sources; men, about 125 ounces (3 And the usual qualifier holds: Every body is individual, so these are It is important to recognize that not all liquids are equally liquefying why you feel thirsty the morning after youfve had a glass or two of wine In other words (actually in Valtinfs words), a healthy adult in a temperate climate who isnft perspiring heavily can get enough water simply by drinking only when he or she is thirsty Most people in the United States get their drinking, Most people who buy the bottles say the liquid stuff is safer, even though municipal water systems Water Reporter says that from 2000 to 2008, the total amount of bottled water sold in the United 29 gallons of bottled water per year for every man, woman, and child in the country water costs anywhere from 240 to 10,000 (!) times as much as safe tap water.

Americans tossed away 2,480,000 tons of plastic bottles and jars in 2008 to live forever in landfills
or make their way out to sea square mile of ocean on the planet contains 48,000 pieces of floating plastic to drift on the water for years and years and years and years Container recycling laws, local bans on bottled water, and newly reusable bottles offer hope of some relief from the tons of plastic garbage So does new technology suggesting that ultraviolet light and heat may render plastic bottles Your wallet and your planet will thank you

In the United States, most people regularly consume much more sodium than In fact, some people who are sodium-sensitive may end up with high blood pressure that can be lowered if they reduce their sodium intake For more about high blood pressure, check out High Blood Pressure For Dummies (published by Wiley) by Alan L Potassium and chloride are found in so many foods that here, too, a dietary In fact, the only recorded case of chloride deficiency was among infants given a formula liquid from which the chloride was inadvertently In 2004, the Adequate Intake (AI) for sodium, potassium, and chloride were set at one-size-fits-all averages for a healthy adult age 19 (154 pounds; see Chapter 5 for more on AI): Most Americans get much more as a matter of course, and sometimes you Repeated vomiting or diarrhea drains your body of water and electrolytes Similarly, you also need extra water to replace the liquid lost in perspiration When you lose enough water to be dangerously dehydrated, you also lose the electrolytes you need to maintain fluid balance, regulate body temperature, Check with your doctor for a drink that will hydrate your skin so that blood circulating up from the center of your body to the The cooled blood returns to the center of your body, lowering the temperature (your core temperature) there, too If you donft cool your body down, you continue losing water replace the lost water, things can get dicey because not only are you losing sodium, potassium, and chloride depletion is heavy, uncontrolled perspiration Deprived of water and electrolytes, your muscles cramp. Read More...

Read more ...

Sodium ions would build up inside your cells

 Mighty Minerals & Food : part-4

Herefs why: First, the number of cancers among the laboratory animals was low enough to have occurred simply by chance. Second, the cancers occurred only in male rats; no cases were reported in female rats or mice of either sex. Finally, the amount of fluorides the animals ingested was 50 to 100 times higher than what you get in drinking water. To get as much fluoride as those rats did, human beings would have to drink more than 380 8-ounce glasses of fluoridated water a day. Today, more than half the people living in the United States have access to adequately fluoridated public water supplies. The result is a lifelong 50 percent to 70 percent reduction in cavities among the residents of these communities

some things pass through, but others donft. Water molecules and small mineral molecules flow through freely, unlike larger molecules such as proteins. The process by which sodium flows out and potassium flows in to keep things on an even keel is called the sodium pump. If this process were to cease, sodium ions would build up inside your cells. Sodium attracts water; the more sodium there is inside the cell, the more water flows in. Eventually, the cell would burst and die. The sodium pump, regular as a clock, prevents this imbalance from happening so you can move along, blissfully unaware of those efficient, electric ions that tell the water in your body where to go. (See the sidebar hHow does water know where to go?h) Other tasks electrolytes perform In addition to maintaining fluid balance, sodium, potassium, and chloride (the form of chlorine found in food) ions create electrical impulses that enable cells to send messages  Sodium, potassium, and chloride are also major minerals (see Chapter 12) and essential nutrients. Like other nutrients, theyfre useful in these bodily processes: 1. Sodium helps digest proteins and carbohydrates and keeps your blood from becoming too acidic or too alkaline Potassium is used in digestion to synthesize proteins and starch and is a major constituent of muscle tissue. Chloride is a constituent of hydrochloric acid, which breaks down food in your stomach. Itfs also used by white blood cells to make hypochlorite, a natural antiseptic. Getting the Water You Need Because the body doesnft store water, you need to take in a new supply every day, enough to replace what you lose when you breathe, perspire, urinate, and defecate. On average, this adds up to 1,500 to 3,000 milliliters (50 to 100 ounces; 6 to 12. 850 to 1,200 milliliters (28 to 40 ounces) is lost in breath and perspiration. 600 to 1,600 milliliters (20 to 53 ounces) is lost in urine Toss in some extra ounces for a safe margin, and you get the current recommendations that women age 19 and up consume about 11 cups of water a day and men age 19 and up, about 15 Not all that water must come in a cup from the tap products of digestion and metabolism are carbon dioxide (a waste product that you breathe out of your body) and water composed of hydrogen from comes directly from what you eat and drink. You can get water from, well, plain Eight 10-ounce glasses give you 2,400 milliliters, approximately enough potatoes knew that a healthy body needed eight full glasses of water a day. Read More...

Read more ...

The body maintains its fluid balance

 Mighty Minerals & Food : part-3

The rest is in extracellular fluid, which is all the other body liquids, such as, 7. Interstitial fluid (the fluid between cells) 8. Blood plasma (the clear liquid in blood) 9. Lymph (a clear, slightly yellow fluid collected from body tissues that flows through your lymph nodes and eventually into your blood vessels) 10. Bodily secretions such as sweat, seminal fluid, and vaginal fluids 11. Urine A healthy body must have just the right amount of fluid inside and outside each cell, a situation described as fluid balance. Maintaining your fluid balance is essential to life. If there is too little water inside a cell, the cell shrivels and dies. If therefs too much water, the cell bursts. The body maintains its fluid balance through the action of substances called electrolytes, mineral compounds that, when dissolved in water, become electrically charged particles called ions. Many minerals, including calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium, form compounds that dissolve into charged particles. But nutritionists generally use the term electrolyte to describe sodium, potassium, and chlorine. The most familiar electrolyte is the one found on every dinner table: sodium chloride. (In water, its molecules dissolve into two ions: one sodium ion and one chloride ion

The electrolytesf primary job Under normal circumstances, the fluid inside your cells has more potassium than sodium and chloride. The fluid outside is just the opposite: more sodium and chloride than potassium. The cell wall is a semipermeable membrane; Fluoridated water: The real Tooth Fairy Except for the common cold, dental cavities are the most common human medical problem. You get cavities from mutans streptococci, bacteria that live in dental plaque. The bacteria digest and ferment carbohydrate residue on your teeth (plain table sugar is the worst offender) leaving acid that eats away at the mineral surface of the tooth enamel to the softer pulp inside of the tooth, your tooth hurts. And you head for the dentist even though you hate it so much youfd almost rather put up with the pain. But almost doesnft count, so off you go. Brushing and flossing help prevent cavities by cleaning your teeth so that bacteria have less to feast on. Another way to reduce your susceptibility to cavities is to drink fluoridated water. 

Combines with other minerals in teeth and makes the minerals less soluble (harder to dissolve). You get the most benefit by drinking water containing 1 part fluoride to every 1 million parts water (1 ppm) from the day youfre born until the day you get your last permanent tooth, usually around age 11 to 13. Some drinking water, notably in the American Southwest, is fluoridated naturally when it flows through rocks containing fluorine. Sometimes so much fluoride is in this water that it causes a brownish spotting (or mottling) that occurs while teeth are developing and accumulating minerals. This effect doesnft occur with drinking water artificially supplemented with fluoride at the approved standard of one part fluoride to every million parts of water. Because fluorides concentrate in bones, some people believe that drinking fluoridated water raises the risk of bone cancers, but no evidence to support this claim has ever been found in human beings. Public Health Servicefs National Toxicology Program (NTP) study of the long-term effects of high fluoride consumption on laboratory rats and mice added fuel to the fire: Four of the 1,044 laboratory rats and mice fed high doses of fluoride for two years developed osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer. The study sent an immediate frisson (shiver of fear) through the health community, but within a year, federal officials reviewing the study issued an opinion endorsing the safety and effectiveness of fluoridated water. Read More....

Read more ...

Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, and Selenium

 Mighty Minerals & Food: Part-2

The average woman loses about 2 to 3 teaspoons of blood during each menstrual period, a loss of 1. Women whose periods are very heavy lose more blood and more iron. Because getting the iron you need from a diet providing fewer than 2,000 calories a day may be virtually impossible, you may develop a mild iron deficiency. Women who use an intrauterine device (IUD) may also be given a prescription for iron supplements because IUDs irritate the lining of the uterus and cause a small but significant loss of blood and iron The news about pregnancy is that women may not need extra calcium. This finding, released late in 1998, is so surprising that it probably pays to stay tuned for more. Animal studies suggest (but donft prove) that you may also need extra copper to protect nerve cells in the fetal brain. Nutritional supplements for pregnant women are specifically formulated to provide the extra nutrients they need.

Nursing mothers need extra calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, and selenium to protect their own bodies while producing nutritious breast milk. The same supplements that provide extra nutrients for pregnant women will meet a nursing motherfs needs. You think that was a hot flash?

At menopause, a womanfs production of estrogen drops precipitously, and her bones rapidly become less dense. As men age and their testosterone levels drop, theyfre also at risk of losing bone tissue, but the loss is less rapid and dramatic than a womanfs. Nutritionists once thought it impossible to reduce the age-related loss of bone density, believing that body ceased to absorb calcium after the mid-20s. Today, that is no longer the case. Regardless of gender, an increased consumption of calcium plus vitamin D appears to help. Not only does vitamin D increase the bodyfs absorption of calcium and protect bones. It may also protect the heart: In 2010, a team of researchers at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) announced that taking calcium supplements alone, without vitamin D, might increase the risk of heart attack Explaining the nature and functions of electrolytes.

The human body is mostly (50 to 70 percent) water. Exactly how much water your own human body contains depends on how much muscle and fat you have. Muscle tissue has more water than fat tissue, so, because the average male body has proportionately more muscle than the average female body, it also has more water. a young body has more water than an older one. You definitely wonft enjoy the experience, but if you have to, you can live without food for weeks at a time, obtaining subsistence levels of nutrients by digesting your own muscle and fat. Without it, youfll die in a matter of days. more quickly in a place warm enough to make you perspire and lose water more quickly. This chapter explains why water is so important and offers some pointers on how to keep your bodyfs water level level. Investigating the Many Ways, Your Body Uses Water, Water is a solvent.

Digest food, dissolving nutrients so that they can pass through the intestinal cell walls into your bloodstream, and move food along through your intestinal tract 2. Carry waste products out of your body 3. Provide a medium in which biochemical reactions, such as metabolism (digesting food, producing energy, and building tissue), occur 3. Send electrical messages between cells so that your muscles can move, your eyes can see, your brain can think, and so on 5. cooling your body with moisture (perspiration) that evaporates on your skin 6. Read More...

Read more ...

Norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor

Food instructions for dummies: part-3

chemicals that enable brain cells to send messages back and forth Dopamine and norepinephrine are chemicals that make you feel alert and Serotonin is a chemical that can make you feel smooth and calm Some forms of clinical depression appear to be a malfunction of the bodyfs Several medical drugs are useful in making neurotransmitters more available Tricyclic antidepressants: These drugs were the first truly effective They are named for their chemical structure: three symptoms by increasing the availability of serotonin Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO inhibitors): These drugs interrupt the actions of an enzyme that triggers the natural elimination of dopamine and other neurotransmitters so that they remain available for Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs):

These medicines slow the bodyfs natural re-absorption of serotonin, leaving more serotonin edicines slow the bodyfs natural re-absorption of both serotonin Norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI): This medicine slows the bodyfs natural re-absorption of norepinephrine and marketed as an antismoking drug under the brand name Zyban. For more about alcoholfs effects on virtually every body organ and system, In this chapter, itfs enough to say that many people find that, taken with food and in moderation. defined as one drink a day for a alcohol can comfortably change a mood from Anandamide is a cannabinoid, a chemical that hooks up to the same brain.

In the study was 74 percent cocoa, served in two daily doses, 20 grams in the morning and 20 grams in the afternoon, after which the researchers tested the volunteersf blood to measure levels of stress hormones the levels of stress hormones went down among the chocolate eaters, thus normally reserved for another naturally occurring tranquilizer, adenosine When caffeine latches on in place of adenosine, brain cells become more reactive to stimulants such as noise and light, making you talk People react to it in highly individual ways Some can drink seven cups of regular (gwith caffeineh) coffee and still stay calm all day and sleep like a baby at night Perhaps those who stay calm have enough brain receptors to accommodate both adenosine and caffeine, or perhaps theyfre more sensitive listed here is an average for the generic versions of the food or drink.

You can check out the caffeine content of brand-name products such as a Starbucks Espresso Solo (75 mg/oz) or Ben and Jerryfs coffee flavored ice cream (34 mg/4 oz) at the Center for Science In the Public Interest Table 24-4 Foods That Give You Caffeine USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Tryptophan is an amino acid, another one of those gbuilding blocks of proteinh.

All amino acids ride into your brain on chemical pathways, but your brain makes way for the bouncy tyrosine first and the soothing tryptophan last Thatfs why a high-protein meal heightens your alertness To move the tryptophan along faster, you need glucose, and that means releases insulin, a hormone that enables you to metabolize the carbs. amount of serotonin available to your brain (see Figure 24-1) Fascinating factoid: Even though turkey is high in protein, itfs also high in tryptophan, the precursor of (chemical that leads to the creation of) serotonin, which may explain why so many people nod off after Thanksgivin that your body releases when youfre in love, making you feel, well, good all.

Read more ...

Finding a ticket on your windshield

 Food instructions for dummies: part -2

those done in test tubes are called in vitro, from the Latin word for glass flavonoids have shown even more powerful antioxidant effects than the new advice to choose your diet by color, opting always for the most One way to rank the antioxidant potential of a food is to evaluate its Oxygen The original ORAC evaluations were done in test tubes using a procedure created in 1994 by Guohua Cao and Richard Cutler of the Jean Mayer USDA. Eventually, another USDA/Mayer scientist, Ronald Prior, automated the test The brain power of chocolate and berries Dark chocolate scores high on the ORAC scale, so it, along with blueberries In January 2010, a team of researchers from the University of Cincinnati, the USDA, and the Canadian Department of Agriculture released data from a number of blueberry people had improved their performance on memory tests. Society (ACS) that eating blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries might protect an older brain by powering up its natural mechanisms for eliminating toxins linked to age-related memory loss and of us consume foods providing at least 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units every day To simplify the task, in 2007 the agency put together a database listing.

Such as finding a ticket on your windshield because your parking meter If youfre sad because the project you spent six months setting up didnft work out, your disappointment can linger long enough to make your work seem temporarily unrewarding or your favorite Most of the time, after shifting one way or the other, your mood swings back You come down from your high or recover from your disappointment, and life resumes its normal pace some bad news there, but all in all, a relatively level field Occasionally, however, your mood may go haywire your teamfs victory escalates to the point where you find yourself rushing from store to store buying things you canft afford, or your sadness over your failure at work deepens into a gloom that steals joy from everything else experiences some form of mood disturbance during his or her Mild cognitive impairment (Where did I leave my keys?) may be a precursor to various forms of age-related dementia (What are keys used for?), so the Mayo Alzheimerfs Disease a survey of 1,969 randomly selected volunteers The results, published in the journal Neurology is more prevalent among women, mild cognitive.

5 times more common among men than greater The finding was unexpected, since the frequency greater in women,h says Ronald Petersen, MD, PhD, neurologist and director of the Mayo Clinic Do you see another study looming in the near Eight or nine out of every 100 people will experience a clinical mood disorder, a mood disorder serious enough to be diagnosed as a disease The two most common moods are happiness and sadness common mood disorders are clinical depression, an elongated period of overly intense sadness, and clinical mania, an elongated period of overly Clinical depression alone is called a unipolar (one-part) disorder; clinical depression plus clinical mania is a bipolar (two-part) disorder.Read More...

Read more ...

You must eat to benefit

 Beauty Tips part-3

than were men who ate refined grain products also as much as 28 percent less likely to succumb to a heart attack, regardless of how much they weighed, whether they smoked or drank alcohol or took vitamins pills or had a history of high blood pressure and high Nobody yet knows exactly why this should be so whole grains are a treasure trove of dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other phytochemicals (plant compounds such as antioxidants) that protect by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol while improving the bodyfs ability.

The question is, how much cereal must you eat to benefit? The studies say more is better, but one serving a day is better than none at all the right cereal, check the Nutrition Facts label ingredient and each serving has at least 2 grams dietary fiber, youfve found Hate cereal? Whole-grain bread is an acceptable alternative yes, whole grains are an equal opportunity dish women, too, may come out ahead by adding whole grain to their daily diets Yogurt is milk with added friendly bacteria that digest milk sugar (lactose) to produce lactic acid, a natural preservative that gives the flavor of yogurt its Yogurt is definitely magical for people who are lactase deficient 362 

Part VI: The Part of Tens (meaning they donft produce enough lactase to digest milk sugar, so they get But therefs no evidence to show that yogurt is a longevity tonic, a claim traced back to Ilya Ilyich Metchnikoff, a Russian Nobel Prize winner (1908;Physiology/Medicine), who believed that people die prematurely entirely because of the action of gputrefying bacteriah in the intestines for a way to disarm the putrefiers, Metchnikoff ended up in Bulgaria, a place where a significant percentage of the population lived into their late 80s Historians may argue that the only way to live that long in Bulgaria was to avoid Bulgarian politics, but Metchnikoff credited the organisms used to make nice yogurt but donft take up residence in the human gut hardly mattered to Metchnikoff, who died in Paris in 1916, at the relatively His faith in yogurt.

Read more ...

Women Beauty solution

 Beauty Tips part-2 

although youfd have to consume 25 pounds or more unsweetened chocolate at one sitting to get even the smallest marijuana-like effect For years, there was nothing but bad news about coffee But more recent research shows no link at all between drinking coffee and an increased risk of any of these conditions may upset your stomach and keep you up at night, but as Heartburn & Reflux For Dummies (written by me and published by Wiley) explains, for most people, these effects are almost always linked to excess consumption, an amount that varies from person to person In moderation, regular coffee, like alcohol, qualifies for anybodyfs list of Its most active ingredient, caffeine, elevates your mood and increases your ability to concentrate; may improve your athletic performance can help shrink the swollen, throbbing blood vessels that make your head ache; and boosts the effect of painkillers, which is why caffeine is often included in over-the-counter analgesic (pain-relieving) products Two studies released 12 days apart in the spring of 2010 have even better news

The first, published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, suggests that regular coffee consumption may reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes, The second, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, posits the possibility that drinking coffee may reduce the risk of human cancers of the head and neck So feel free to go (sensibly) nuts for nuts The hot new color in tea is white for all three teas come from one plant, Camellia sinensis meant for black and green teas are rolled and fermented before drying, while Nutritionally, this small change makes a big difference Flavonoids are natural chemicals credited with teafs ability to lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of some kinds of cancer, and protect your teeth Fresh tea leaves are rich in flavonoids called catechins, but processing the leaves to make black and green teas releases new flavor and coloring agents called polyphenols (poly = many) that give flavor and color to black and green teas rolled nor fermented, fewer of their catechins marry into polyphenols According to researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute (LPI) at Oregon State University, the plain catechin content of white tea is three times that of green Black tea comes in a distant third

Why should you care about this? Because all those catechins seem to be For example, when LPI researchers tested white teafs ability to inhibit cell mutations in bacteria and slow down cell hanges leading to colon cancer in rats, the white tea beat green tea, the former health And when scientists at University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University applied creams containing white-tea extract to human skin (on volunteers) and exposed the volunteers to artificial sunlight, the creamed skin developed fewer pre-cancerous changes tea preparations were also protective, but white tea has less caffeine than either green or black tea, which makes it the perfect brew for a recovering Are you a man who plans to live forever?

Then a team of nutrition scientists at Harvard/Brigham and Womenfs Hospital in Boston have three words for When the investigators took a look at the health stats for a one-year period in the lives of the 86,190 male doctors in the longrunning Physiciansf Health Study, they found 3,114 deaths among the study volunteers, including 1,381 deaths from heart attack and stroke looked a little closer and discovered that eating habits count Read More...

Read more ...